I almost always ride with ear-buds, listening to music streaming from my phone or iPod through my SENA. On the short trip to dinner Saturday night I didn't. That's when I noticed my chain was making a hell of a racket when the bike was in 1st or 2nd gear. I hosed the chain down with chain-lube and hoped for the best. It didn't help.

My wife and daughter arrived safely at the hotel, I put the chain out of my mind, and all was right with the world. On one hand, I really enjoy solo road-tripping, but I was looking forward to sharing the upcoming experiences with them. With us all together, it started to really feel like a vacation - instead of me selfishly enjoying myself alone on my bike (which isn't uncommon).

On Sunday morning, I slipped out to the parking lot while the girls did their morning girl-prepping, and screwed around with the bike - hoping to remedy the dicey chain. I adjusted for length and crossed my fingers. When we got under way it was clear that my tinkering didn't help. None the less I buried my head in the sand and off we went.

We took the beltway around Denver and headed for a short distance west on 1-70.

We stopped for gas at what must be the world's most scenic gas station. It was along a river.

My daughter Christina stretching her legs at the stop:

Problem is, location comes at a price:
Luckily, this was by far the most pricey gas we faced.

We hung a left and took highway 91 south - where we entered Leadville - which reminded me of a line in a Jimmy Buffett song.

South of Leadville we hung a right and started up hwy 82 towards Independence Pass. Traffic was a little heavy, but it was still a fun road

and (you guessed it) up...
Tried to take a pic over my shoulder of the girls in the car and missed em

Until finally:

There was some sort of High-Altitude training finishing up. I think this was the debriefing

It was windy and cold up there, so we wandered around only for a few minutes before we took off.

Christina (my 17 year old) and my wife, Renee'. But don't get used to those names...

I stowed the camera on the way down, as it looked as if rain was approaching - which was too bad - the ride down the other side of the mtn was even more scenic.

It was later, as we were stuck waiting on a train...

...when I had my first epiphany...

The terms, "wife", "daughter" and "car" just aren't cool enough for a Bad-Ass Ride Report (that I am pretending this is going to be). So from hence forth, they will be referred to as "The Support Crew" and "Support Vehicle" ...Charley and Ewin would be proud.

So we finished Sunday's short ride at the Mongolian Yurt that we had reserved ... (um, I mean Hampton Inn)